My Lines

"I have laboured to make a covenant with myself that affection may not press upon judgement, for I suppose there is no man that hath any apprehension of gentry or nobleness, but his affections stands to the continuance of so noble a name and house, and would take hold of a twig or a twine thread to uphold it.. And yet, Time hath his revolutions; there must be a period and an end to all things temporal ~ finis rerum ~ an end of names and dignities and whatsoever is terrene, and why not of de Vere?

"For where is Bohun? Where is Mowbray? where is Mortimer? Nay, which is more and most of all, where is Plantagenet? They are entombed in the urns and sepulchres of mortality!

"And yet let the name and dignity of de Vere stand so long as it pleaseth God."

- Chief Justice Crew, in support of Robert de Vere, a poor captain in the Army of the United Provinces (in Holland), 2nd to last male de Vere to carry the title Earl of Oxford.
IV. Death By Water

Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead,
Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep seas swell
And the profit and loss.
A current under sea
Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell
He passed the stages of his age and youth
Entering the whirlpool.

Gentile or Jew
O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.

- T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land, 1922.
Thou who readest this, know that I have followed the writings of my ancestors, and have culled a few flowers from their broad meadows to weave a chaplet for him who cares to know these things. Let no one believe that to the advantage of the race of which I have spoken--though indeed I trace my own descent from it--I have added aught besides what I have read or learned by inquiry. Even thus I have not included all that is written or told about them, nor spoken so much to their praise as to the glory of him who conquered them.

- Jordanes, Getica, circa 550
The following are the Surety Barons for the enforcement of the abrogated Magna Carta, June 15, 1215 A.D..

William d'Albini, Lord of Belvoir Castle, d. 1236. Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk and Suffolk, d. 1220. Hugh Bigod, heir to the earldoms of Norfolk and Suffolk, d. 1225. Henry de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, d. 1220. Richard de Clare, Earl of Hertford, d. 1217. Gilbert de Clare, heir to the earldom of Hertford, d. 1230. John FitzRobert, Lord of Warkworth Castle, Northumberland, d. 1240. Robert FitzWalter, Lord of Dunmow Castle, Essex, d. 1234. William de Fortibus, Earl of Albemarle, d. 1241, no great-grandchildren. William Hardell, Mayor of the City of London, d. after 1216, no known issue. William de Huntingfield, Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, d. 1220. John de Lacie, Lord of Pontefract Castle, d. 1240. William de Lanvallei, Lord of Standway Castle, Essex, d. 1217. William Malet, Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset, d. about 1217. Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex and Gloucester, d. 1216, d.s.p.. William Marshall jr, heir to the earldom of Pembroke, d. 1231, d.s.p.. Roger de Montbegon, Lord of Hornby Castle, Lancashire, d. 1226, d.s.p.. Richard de Montfichet, Baron, d. after 1258, d.s.p.. William de Mowbray, Lord of Axholme Castle, Lincolnshire, d. 1223. Richard de Percy, Baron, Yorkshire, d. 1244, d.s.p.. Saire de Quincey, Earl of Winchester, d. 1219. Robert de Roos, Lord of Hamlake Castle, Yorkshire, d. 1226. Geoffrey de Saye, Baron, d. 1230. Robert de Vere, heir to the earldom of Oxford, d. 1221. Eustace de Vesci, Lord of Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, d. 1216 d.s.p..

These 25 barons were Sureties for the concessions made by John, King of England, d. 18 Oct 1216, in the Magna Carta.
I knew a man - he was a common farmer -
he was the father of five sons -
and in them were the fathers of sons -
and in them were the fathers of sons.

This is not only one man, he is the father of those who shall be father in their turns,
In him the start of populous states and rich republics,
Of him countless immortal lives with countless embodiments and enjoyments.
How do you know who shall come from the offspring of his offspring through the centuries?
Who might you find you have come from yourself if you could trace back through the centuries?

...
A woman at auction,
She too is not only herself - she is the teeming mother of mothers,
She is the bearer of them that shall grow and be mates to the mothers.
Her daughters or their daughters' daughters - who knows who shall mate with them?
Who knows through the centuries what heroes may come from them?

- excerpts from "Poem of the Body" by Walt Whitman
Welcome to my genealogy site. You'll see straight off I've used many sources: primary, secondary, tertiary, traditional, and mythical. With that given, use what you find at your own risk. I do however strive to make this as correct as I can. Between Present Time and the Medieval, I don't carry falsehoods that are known with certainty. (Let me know if you spot one and I'll fix it in my database.) Departing the Medieval for Antiquity, I do carry many mythical lines. I do so because they are traditional, observed by the dynasties of old, add flavor, and might in fact be actually factual! As Jordanes offers: "I have followed the writings of my ancestors, and have culled a few flowers from their broad meadows to weave a chaplet for him who cares to know these things." If you see a line you question, examine the sources.

Good point that I'd like to bring up. I'm not a professional genealogist. This was as much a search for my roots as it was an opportunity to learn some history and play around with heraldry and such. Yes, I use a "multi-lingual" approach. Is it pretentious? You bet. Would the pretentious nobility of the self-styled "genealogist elite" object? Wholeheartedly and with great passion. The Soc.Gen.Med newsgroup remains a carnal bearpit years after I'd given up on it. Do I care? Enough to add this disclaimer to an update. But no further. Genealogy is a study of people, their place in time, and their connections upwards through ancestors and downwards through descendants. If you got that right, or to the best of your ability, the rest is just a matter of stylistic approach. You say William. I say Guillaume. Why did I do this? I used French sources for some of my info, German for other, etc., so my sources gave me those names to use. Be kind and forgive a hobbyist in it for the pleasure a little pretentiousness. But enough of that.

Crusaders are indicated with a red cross . The relationship to me is shown as follows: a red blood drop representing ancestors, a blue drop representing close (family reunion close, i.e within 5 generations) cousins, and gray representing distant cousins (between 6 and 15 generations). Beyond that are those more than 15 generations distant from me, those related to, intermarried with, have something to do with them, or interesting enough to include anyway.

Maybe you'll find a relative herein. Maybe we're even related, you and me. Let me know. I have so many branches of the tree yet to discover. But, regardless, enjoy the journey as I do.